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42 killed in airstrike on mosque near Aleppo in Syria

March 17, 2017 at 3:56 am

Civil defence team members try to rescue people who are trapped under the debris of a Mosque after an aerial attack on a mosque in Aleppo, Syria on March 16, 2017 (Ahmed El Ahmed – Anadolu)

Warplanes struck a mosque in the rebel-held village of al-Jina, in northwest Syria, killing at least 42 people and wounding dozens, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said on Thursday.

The jets struck the village, southwest of Atarib near Aleppo, as the mosque was full of worshippers at evening prayer, said the Observatory, which monitors the Syrian war via a network of contacts across the country.

The US military said it carried out an air strike on Thursday against al Qaeda militants, killing several, at a meeting location in Idlib province, but it was unclear if it was referring to the attack on Al-Jina.

Read: Syria is a ‘torture-chamber’, UN calls for prosecution

The statement from US Central Command made no mention of civilian casualties.

Syrian and Russian military have also carried out many air strikes in Idlib and Aleppo provinces during the war.

Al-Jina is located in one of the main rebel-held parts of Syria, the northwest that includes Idlib province and the western parts of Aleppo province, and its population has been swollen by refugees, UN agencies have said.

Rebels in northwest Syria fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad also include groups supported by Turkey, the United States and Gulf monarchies.